Garg, I switched to XP because I needed to upgrade to a computer with a bigger hard drive (so I could make video CDs of my daughter to send to my mom), and the new machines all came with XP. Yes, I know, I could have gone to Linux or something more reasonable than Window$, but I wanted a laptop and I didn't want to spend a long, long time researching and shopping. There were also a number of reasonable reviews indicating fairly good experience with XP: including the apparently inaccurate bit about freedom from crashes. I didn't want to agonize about it. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

As far as your second question, current 'Cat procedure separates "Tech" computer questions from other non-music threads and leaves them on top. I happen to agree with that. You disagree. That, as my late father used to say, is why they make chocolate and vanilla.

And I agree with you about Norton. Though I admit, things have gotten a wee bit more complex than they were in 1985, when I felt a more comfortable using Unerase to root around my 256KB Epson. Similarly, when I do use C-A-D to check "active processes," I haven't the faintest idea of what all those processes are doing, what programs they came from, and what would happen if I mucked around with them. Obviously, to paraphrase Dr. McCoy, "Dammit, Greg, I'm a doctor, not a computer technician!"

Aloha,
Mark